Sow Happy Together

There’s an art and science to playing matchmaker in the garden.

Gardeners as Matchmakers

With so many job on the gardening to - do inclination , the last thing most gardener require to do is meet matcher . But anyone who ’s planted marigold near tomatoes or radishes with Spinacia oleracea knows the benefits of couple made in the garden .

Whether embed vegetables together to improve spirit or using one vegetable to entice dirt ball away from others , there are many mates that can help oneself save garden space , control insect pests and encourage a hefty garden .

Opposites Attract

The old saying about couple is one approach to matchmaking in the garden . “ Opposites attract ” is a good way to retrieve to habituate intercropping to take advantage of unused blank space in the garden . Think about plant between rows of crops or planting deep - rooted works to grow with shallow - rooted ones , like planting radishes between rows of tomatoes .

Another way of life opposites draw is whenever short time of year harvest are planted with harvest that take much longer to mature . For model , leafy greens can be interplanted with fruiting vegetable , like tomatoes , to maintain valuable garden real estate .

Botanical Buddies

Some plant make perfect partners when grown together in the garden and team up to help each other flourish , like radish plant with spinach . Radishes work as a decoy plant life to draw in destructive folio miners to their tasteless leave of absence and away from untoughened spinach . The Raphanus sativus longipinnatus does n’t mind .

Other combination prevent worm pest problem and reduce or eliminate the need for chemical pesticides . These plants act as natural pesticides by let out worm - repelling chemicals through their leaves or roots . Anyone familiar with the typical olfactory perception of marigold understands why pestilence choose to stay away from that acrid bloom .

Marigolds also help control harmful nematodes , a microscopic soil gadfly , by secreting a substance through their roots . Plants that are susceptible to nematode equipment casualty , like tomato , benefit when marigolds are sown close by .

Insect pest that locate their intellectual nourishment by smell can be fox when gardener cultivate strong - smelling plants . Garlic , onions , schnittlaugh and other heady herbs provide a full disguise to protect tender greens . Allium porrum and carrots also become good friends in the garden . Planting combinations of vegetables together means the plants can link up personnel to drive back each other ’s pest .

Caretaker flora

Some plant are simply sound friends and avail other plants by just being there for them . Short , nuance - tolerant plants can revel the protection provide by tall , sun - loving plants . Lettuce revalue the nuance it receives when plant with something taller , like flowering tobacco .

Another example of a caretaker plant is one that bring home the bacon all important nutrients to avail others boom . pea , beans and clover are well - known for their power to give rise usable atomic number 7 which helps feed their neighbors .

In addition to helping each other grow , some compatible plant improve the flavor of their garden pals . The taste perception of tomato generate a boost whenever Basil the Great is engraft close by . An added advantage is the herb also repels fly front and mosquito .

The only prerequisite for planting caretaker is to make certain each plant ’s soil , food and water needs are similar .

The Law of Attraction

While some plants bring forth odors or substances to drive pests away , other plants provide ambrosia or pollen for attracting good pollinator into the garden . bee will be invited to linger longer if bee balm is in closelipped proximity to the garden , especially near the tomato patch .

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Spinach and radish make perfect partners in the garden. Radish leaves lure insect pests away from tender spinach without harming radish roots.Photo/Illustration: Jodi Torpey

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